1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a parts feeder using a strip carrier, and more particularly to a parts feeder designed to hold parts being transported in an orientation required to be picked up by a vacuum pickup.
2. Background Art
Parts feeders are known which have a strip carrier and a vacuum pickup. The strip carrier stores small parts in recesses formed in line and is moved intermittently to a pickup station. The vacuum pickup is disposed above a travel path of the strip carrier to pick up the parts one from each of the recesses of the strip carrier.
Such prior art parts feeders have a drawback in that vibrations of the strip carrier during moving may cause the parts to stand vertically, thereby making it difficult to take up the parts from the recesses using the vacuum pickup.